Brief Reveiw of Literature

Plastic pollution is a significant environmental issue with global impacts. Research by Kumar et al. (Kumar et al., 2018) in Dhanbad, India found that plastic waste constituted 5.7% of total municipal solid waste, with varying rates among socioeconomic groups. The study also highlighted the recovery of plastic waste by informal recyclers, generating revenue. Li et al. (Li et al., 2021) analyzed plastic pollution in various environmental samples and identified polyethylene and polypropylene as common types. Schwarz et al. (Schwarz et al., 2019) examined plastic waste in aquatic environments, emphasizing packaging, consumer products, and fishery items as major contributors. Mihai et al. (Mihai et al., 2021) explored plastic pollution challenges in rural areas and proposed circular economy strategies for waste management. Obebe and Adamu (Obebe & Adamu, 2020) highlighted improper waste disposal as the main cause of plastic pollution and discussed its harmful effects on health, marine life, and ecosystems.

Scatterplots

These 3 scatterplots deomonstrate the relationship between population and 3 different plastic waste variables: coastal, mismanaged, and general. Despite correlations implied in the studies referenced, there seems to be no susceptible relation between these variables in this dataset. This suggests that there may be another factor influencing waste production.

Regression Model

Next, this regression model demonstrates the relation between GPD and waste production. The best-fit line suggests a slight positive correlation between the two variables, with greater inaccuracies with increasing values.

Density Plots

These density plots represent the distribution of values of the variables Mismanaged Waste and Plastic Waste. While no distinct conclusions can be drawn from the plots, they provide a visualization of the difference in frequencies of these variables.

Correlation Matrix

Finally, this correlation gives a chance in interpret the data from our last dataset. With no definite conclusions reached with the previous tests, it could be useful to view the correlations between types of plastic waste. However, this test only implies a moderate correlation between the variables PET, HDPE, LDPE. This could mean that these plastics occur in likelyhood with each other, with moderate confidence.